– 12 Organizations Involved in the Final Inspection and Training Exercises
The Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA, Administrator Taeseog Oh) announced that it conducted a comprehensive launch safety control exercise on Thursday, September 3 at the Naro Space Center in Goheung, Jeollanam-do, ahead of the 5th launch of Korea Space Launch Vehicle Nuri (KSLV-II, hereinafter “Nuri”) scheduled for Wednesday, October 7. The exercise involved 12 organizations, including government agencies, the military, police, and local governments, to conduct a final inspection of launch safety control procedures.
The comprehensive launch safety control exercise was conducted to ensure public safety during the launch process and support a successful launch by comprehensively reviewing systems for controlling personnel and vehicles around the Naro Space Center, restricting access by ships and aircraft along the launch trajectory, evacuating local residents, and responding to emergency situations such as terrorism and disasters.
On June 18, KASA established the Launch Safety Control Council, consisting of relevant organizations, including government agencies, the military, police, and local governments, to discuss necessary areas of cooperation throughout the launch process. KASA has also made thorough preparations by conducting a command staff exercise based on a tabletop training format on July 15 at the Naro Space Center for liaison officers and on-site managers from participating organizations. The exercise involved liaison officers and on-site managers from each organization gathering in the situation room to review launch safety control missions and emergency response procedures.
This comprehensive launch safety control exercise reflected improvement measures identified through the previous command staff exercise. Under conditions identical to those on the actual launch day, the exercise will review and train launch safety control procedures across land, sea, and air domains.
In particular, the exercise focused on strengthening cooperation systems among relevant organizations and enhancing response capabilities for various emergency scenarios, including the appearance of unauthorized unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) on launch day, unauthorized entry of ships and aircraft into restricted areas, ground impact, explosions, fires, and oil spills resulting from an abnormal launch, as well as terrorist incidents.
KASA Administrator Taeseog Oh said, “The 5th launch of Nuri holds significant meaning as a launch that will help secure launch reliability through repeated launches and promote the growth of the space industry ecosystem.” He added, “Through thorough safety control exercises conducted under real-world conditions, we will make every effort to ensure a safe launch of Nuri by fully preparing for various emergency situations that may occur during the launch process and conducting a final, comprehensive inspection to secure public safety.”